Moving a DotNetNuke Website to Godaddy

As you may have discovered, unless you just want to use the standard DNN install that Godaddy offers, things get tricky.

I had a client that had us build a complete DNN site with custom modules and data on our test servers. The whole time I figured that moving the site to the clients site would be easy, but then I realized that most hosts do not give direct access to the database and setting permissions can be complicated. So here is the fastest solution I found after a few days of work.

1. Prep your Site: Login to your original site and go into the Site Settings. Add portal aliases for the new location of you site which will be new-www.[your domain].com/site. Also modify your /etc/hosts (mac/linux) or WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts (win) file so that you point new-www.[your domain].com to your godaddy ip address.

2. Download and Install the Backup/Restore module from XP Idea and request a trial key. You will then copy the key file they give you into the [dnn root]/bin directory. This module is only $70 and allows you to make a live backup of both the database and the files with just a few clicks. Great product!

3. Add the module to a page in your existing site and click the backup link. It will take to to a waiting screen while the backup is made. Then return you back to this screen so you can download the file.

4. Download the file to your local computer an unzip. Save this directory for later

5. Set Up the Standard DNN install on Godaddy: Go into the Content->Hosting Metropolis page in your godaddy account and add the standard DotNetNuke install. You will need to specify a subdirectory for DNN to install into (use “site” for now) and a username/password set (These will be overwritten by the restore). The main reason we do this is to establish the SQL database and set up the standard directory security entries.

6. Set up the Web Config File: Open the web.config file that godaddy made for you and look for the two lines near the top that specify the connection string to the database. Copy these into the web.config file in the backup directory you downloaded earlier.